# What was this thing on a crow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352 "2022-12-30T19:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/1 "2022-12-30T19:14:32Z")
I watched this crow for about 15 minutes. It had the thing dangling from its chest. The bird was hoping around and eating apparently fine. The “bag” was free swinging. When I moved closer for a better pic, it flew away. It seemed to otherwise ok. [![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/4d4a49fd-c856-4e83-b4db-3a2705adbb03.jpeg) ](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/4d4a49fd-c856-4e83-b4db-3a2705adbb03.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/2 "2022-12-30T19:31:21Z")
Birds have a bunch of air sacs that allow for unidirectional flow of air through the gas-exchanging lungs. I wonder if it is possible for one to herniate outside the body. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/3 "2022-12-30T19:49:28Z")
Perhaps a tumor? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/4 "2022-12-30T20:01:56Z")
Could be a tumor, or a Christmas ornament. Animals get caught in all kinds of stuff from humans and just go on with life, as long as the thing does not debilitate them. People have a lot of Christmas decorations in their yards right now, so it’s possible. Hopefully, if it is something like that it will fall off eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/5 "2022-12-30T20:32:27Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > … or a Christmas ornament. I guess that’s the better of the two, assuming he can ditch it soon enough. Can tumors be bulbous but hanging on by a thread? ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/6 "2022-12-31T21:40:23Z")
I used to put radio transmitters on American Crows _Corvus brachyrhynchos_ to follow their movements. We always used cotton shoelaces to attach the radios such that they fell off after a period of time. But I don’t see an antennae nor any other indication that the crow was marked (no bands, bleached feather patterns, fake feather attachment), so perhaps this one got into a bit of trash? I have seen large tumors on mobile birds that are quite impressive (one tumor on a House Sparrow’s _Passer domesticus_ neck was the size of his head, but he had no apparent issues with it that I could discern. But I do think a herniated airsac of that size would impact the flight capability of a bird. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/7 "2023-01-01T02:14:52Z")
Christmas ornament seems more likely. And probably not harmful Crows are known to be attracted to shiny things, like magpies (another branch of the crow family). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/8 "2023-01-01T05:49:35Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Animals get caught in all kinds of stuff from humans … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2CE1FNMtl6Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Bear with plastic tub stuck on head rescued") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CE1FNMtl6Q) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-a-crow/977352/9 "2023-01-01T13:14:34Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Can tumors be bulbous but hanging on by a thread? See: pedunculated. > **[Peduncle (anatomy)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peduncle_(anatomy))** > > A peduncle is an elongated stalk of tissue. Sessility is the state of not having a peduncle; a sessile mass or structure lacks a stalk. > In medicine, a mass such as a cyst or polyp is said to be pedunculated if it is supported by a peduncle. > There are in total three types of peduncles in the cerebellum of the human brain, known as superior cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebellar peduncle, and inferior cerebellar peduncle. > Pedunculated eyes are also the defining attribute of the Stylophthalmine...